Posted on

Floyd County spent $6.7 million on Secondary Road Department last fiscal year

Floyd County spent $6.7 million on Secondary Road Department last fiscal year
Floyd County officials were still dealing with problems with gravel roads in July 2019, a situation that caused a greater expenditure for crushed rock last fiscal year. Press photo by Bob Steenson
By Bob Steenson, bsteenson@charlescitypress.com

Floyd County spent $6.7 million in the last fiscal year to build, repair and maintain the county’s rural roads and bridges. The money to pay for those expenditures came from a variety of mostly tax sources, including more than $1.3 million in county property taxes.

Floyd County Engineer Dusten Rolando presented his annual Iowa Department of Transportation report to the county Board of Supervisors at the board’s regular meeting Tuesday morning.

The report covers the 2019-20 fiscal year that ended June 30, and is an annual requirement by the state DOT to help track how state funds are being used and to make sure that the county is spending enough of its own tax resources to justify the state support, Rolando said.

The maximum amount that can be transferred from property taxes into the county Secondary Roads Fund is set by state law, and is based on the total property valuation in the county.

“What that means is we have to make sure we’re contributing at least 75% of what that total potential could be,” Rolando said. “If we were below the minimum requirement the DOT would come back and start withholding money from us, because, ‘Hey, you’re not contributing enough.’”

Based on the state formula and county property valuation, a total of $1.74 million in county taxes could be raised for the Secondary Roads Department, and 75% of that is $1.31 million needed to meet the state’s minimum county contribution.

But Floyd County actually allocated $2.08 million, or 119.4% of the state requirement, when local option sales taxes are included.

Supervisor Roy Schwickerath pointed out that the county is spending more on roads and bridges than it is required to, in order to keep them in good condition.

“If you want to see property taxes reduced that would be a way you could reduce property taxes – by not putting as much money into the roads,” Schwickerath said. “It could legally be done – but you’ve got to remember what it does to your roads.”

Rolando said, “You’re closing bridges and the frost boils last year would have been twice as bad” without the expenditures.

Schwickerath said he wasn’t advocating spending less on roads and bridges, but people should know that services cost money, and if they want to reduce taxes they have to decide which services they want to do without.

According to Rolando’s report, total receipts for the Secondary Road Fund included $1.31 million in local property taxes, almost $775,000 in local option sales taxes, $3.73 million in state road use tax receipts (mostly from taxes on fuel and fees collected on vehicle purchases and registrations, titles and driver licenses), $700,000 in federal bridge replacement funds, $100,000 in FEMA disaster aid and $35,000 in miscellaneous funds, for a total of $6.65 million in new money to spend in the fiscal year.

The county actually spent a little bit more than it raised, with total expenditures of $6.70 million, dipping into the secondary road department’s cash reserves.

Floyd County spent most of that money – $3.63 million – on roadway maintenance, including maintaining roads, bridges and culverts; snow and ice control; traffic controls including traffic signs and pavement markings; and road clearing, including mowing, spraying and removing brush.

Of that amount, $1.48 million went to spread rock on county roads, including all the extra rock that was needed last year because of the poor condition of county roads due to the bad winter.

The Secondary Roads Department also spent $766,000 on new construction, $515,000 on administration, and $1.79 million on roadway expenditures such as new equipment, equipment repairs and supplies, buildings, and tools and materials.

Also at the supervisors meeting Tuesday, the board:

  • Applied for $21,079.49 in reimbursements from the Iowa COVID-19 Government Relief Fund, a $100 million fund for cities and counties announced by Gov. Kim Reynolds that is part of the state’s $1.25 billion share of the federal CARES Act funding.

The money must be spent on COVID-19 related costs, such as personal protective equipment, testing kits, sanitizer and emergency staffing caused by response to the virus.

The Floyd County claim includes $15,189 for payroll costs for public health and public safety employees, $2,360 for equipment to be used to conduct meetings remotely by telephone or internet, and $2,720 for personal protective equipment, plus other smaller expenses.

The money is for expenses from March 1 through July 31 and must be claimed by Sept. 15. Another round of claims can be made for expenses Aug. 1 to the end of September and that will be due Oct. 9

County Auditor Gloria Carr said previously that Floyd County is eligible for up to almost $200,000 in reimbursements if it can find qualifying expenses, but she said Tuesday it has been challenging to come up with expenses that qualify under the program guidelines and that have the necessary level of documentation.

  • Appointed Sean Pitkin of Rockford to the Floyd County Board of Adjustments, to fill the remainder of the term until Dec. 31 for Bill Fluhrer. It is expected that Pitkin will be appointed to a full four-year term on the board once the temporary appointment expires.

The county has had to replace several positions on the county Board of Adjustment and the county Planning Commission because of a new state law that requires members of those county boards to live in the unincorporated areas of the county. There is also a previously existing requirement that boards and commissions be gender-balanced.

Pam Erbe-Lines and Allison Staudt were previously appointed to the Zoning Commission, replacing Susan Nelson and Vickie Zobel. Wendy Johnson and Rick Cordes were previously appointed to fill positions that the state law opened on the Board of Adjustments, replacing Ann Sullivan and Dave Boekmer.

  • Approved a grant agreement with the Iowa Secretary of State Office for $15,400 to be used by the county for extra election expenses caused by the coronavirus. Carr said expenses will include plexiglass screens at polling sites, postage for additional absentee ballots, plastic polling booths that can be property disinfected, a secure ballot drop box at the courthouse entrance, and pay for additional staff hours.

Social Share

LATEST NEWS